This is a classic and easy whoopie pies recipe. It is made of soft, moist chocolate round cakes sandwiched with a sweet, creamy, fluffy filling.
What is Whoopie Pie?
The best way to describe a whoopie pie is that it’s a mini chocolate cake sandwich in cookie form. It is made of two round pieces of chocolate cake, with a creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them. A traditional filling is a marshmallow filling, but different kinds of buttercream are widely used too. The original and most commonly used flavor of whoopie pies is chocolate, but you can find other flavors such as pumpkin, or vanilla. The batter is soft, something between a cake batter and a cookie dough, and the texture of the cake is tender. Whoopie pies taste like a really good frosted chocolate cake.
Whoopie Pie Origin
Whoppie pies are a New England classic and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition, and they are one of Maine’s most loved food. These days they are widely sold throughout the United States and other places around the world. Whoopie pies were sold ever since 1925, which only shows how good they are, otherwise they wouldn’t stick around for that long.
How to Make The Best Homemade Whoopie Pie
I’ve tried several different recipes for homemade whoopie pies, and my favorite is the classic, traditional one. It’s seriously chocolatey, because there’s a lot of cocoa powder in it, and it’s so tender, it will almost melt in your mouth.
The cakes are made by creaming butter and sugar, adding egg, vanilla, and buttermilk, then dry ingredients such as flour and cocoa powder. The batter will be quite sticky and soft, but it won’t spread much during baking as it has enough baking soda to provide lift and enough flour to stay intact.
I use a medium ice cream scoop to scoop out the batter. It’s less messy, and makes life easier. It also keeps the cookies uniform and even in size. It’s a great standard size and I use it for most my cookies.
You can use a whoopie pie pan if you find it easier to shape the cookies, but if you’re comfortable with baking cookies, you can make them without it.
Cocoa Powder: both unsweetened natural cocoa powder and Dutch-process work well here, so use your favorite kind (I prefer the latter).
Whoopie Pie Filling: Choose Your Favorite
You know how I like everything to be perfect, right? I couldn’t choose just one filling, so I’m going to give you 4 options to choose from. The one that you’ll see in the recipe is a marshmallow filling, which is classic, made easy with a marshmallow cream such as Marshmallow Fluff. But if you don’t have this ingredient on hand, or prefer a different filling, I have 3 more options for you. That’s not to confuse you, just to help you. All of them are delicious and usually found in classic chocolate whoopie pie recipes.
- Classic vanilla buttercream frosting – this is a classic vanilla buttercream that’s simple and easy to make. I love this recipe because it isn’t overly sweet compared to other recipes.
- Cream cheese frosting – I prefer cream cheese frosting over classic buttercream most of the time, but that’s just me. I think it’s a perfect match to chocolate whoopie pies.
- Swiss meringue buttercream – this is more for the advanced baker, so if you feel like you can do this, definitely go for it. It has an amazing flavor and texture, and it’s similar to the traditional marshmallow filling found in whoopie pies. You only need half the amount of this recipe (or maybe even less, but just lick the rest straight from the bowl).
- 1¾ cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (65g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick/115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, room temperature
- ½ cup (1 stick/115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups Marshmallow Fluff
- 1 cup (115 g/4 oz.) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined, then mix in buttermilk. Slowly add dry ingredients, and mix just until combined.
- Scoop mounds of batter, 1 and ½ tablespoons in size (I use this ice cream scoop), onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2-3 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the tops spring back when touched. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Make the filling: Place all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until creamy and fluffy. If the filling is too stiff, you can add a little heavy cream or milk.
- Assemble the cookies: Spread filling on the flat side of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, pressing down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edge of the cookies.
- Store in the fridge, well covered, for up to a week. Serve at room temperature.
2 Comments
Elle
May 16, 2018 at 6:50 amI want to try making whoopie pies and these look really good! What filling do you recommend for me to use if I will serve these goodies in a buffet style party. My family is huge and every party is buffet style. These would definitely look impressive on a buffet table. And so I’m wondering which filling will hold up the best? THanks!!!
Shiran
May 18, 2018 at 3:17 pmHi Elle, all of them should hold up well, so you can use the one that you like best! If you want a classic whoopie pie, go for the marshmallow filling.